Tom Duncan retires from Fleet Owner

Tom Duncan, Vice President/Group Publisher of Penton’s Automotive and Trucking Group, is retiring after 38 years with the business.

Tom began his career in B-to-B media on June 1, 1976, joining McGraw-Hill in New York as an editor for Fleet Owner. Over nearly four decades, Tom’s talents and intelligence took him to San Francisco as West Coast editor, then returning to New York to take over as chief editor and soon publisher. As Vice President/Group Publisher, Tom helped acquire the American Trucker group, and later FleetSeek, the premier data business for the trucking industry, integrating both brands into the Fleet Owner family. After building successful businesses, Tom was given the responsibility of managing additional Penton brands, spanning across trucking, automotive, and aviation industries.

Through it all, Tom’s strong sense of loyalty and fairness created a leadership style that attracted and retained a fiercely loyal team of employees who trust his vision and confidently worked to achieve the goals he articulated. It has been, above all, his concern and understanding for those he managed that has fostered consistently high levels of achievement by his groups.

His own words – written as he announced his retirement to his team – best reflect the attributes and attitude that will be so greatly missed:

I’ve worked in New York and San Francisco; traveled throughout the country and the world; and have seen our brands rise to dominant positions in their markets, but most meaningful to me throughout it all has been the privilege I’ve had to work with a truly outstanding group of people, way too lengthy to even begin to list. I’ll treasure those relationships more than anything else, and carry them with me.

The business has changed tremendously in 38 years, and this is a good time for me to step aside and let others take the reins and build for the future. I feel good and confident leaving the group in the very capable hands of those managing it today.

Thanks to you all for your commitmentand loyalty over the years.

Tom’s last day with Penton will be June 1st, 2014, exactly 38 years from the day his career began with Fleet Owner.

“Today, the Fleet Owner brand is as strong as it has ever been, thanks to Tom’s loyalty and ability to attract talented people,” said Reggie Lawrence, Fleet Owner’s newly named managing director. “Tom has been my mentor, and one of the best men I have ever known.”

“Tom entrusted me with managing the Fleet Owner brand in 2007, and after our 15-year history together, I feel a deep responsibility to continue his legacy of excellence. We have never had a more talented group of people working across our truck brands. My pledge is to try and meet the high bar that was set by Tom.”